Entries in DDon't Ask Don't Don't Tell
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- Eight months after a repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the U.S. Air Force Academy Wednesday graduated its first group of openly gay cadets.

As President Obama addressed the graduates, no rainbow flags could be seen on display. The LGBT students couldn’t be picked out of the crowd of white and blue.

But gay and lesbian advocates, academy alums, school officials and current students said they were there.

“The whole thing is we don’t want to be identified as anything different,” said Trish Heller, who heads the Blue Alliance, an association of LGBT Air Force Academy alumni. “We want to serve, to be professional and to be symbols of what it means to be Air Force Academy graduates.”

Heller said her group had connected with at least four members of the class of 2012 receiving diplomas Wednesday who had come out publicly as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. There were likely others, but they preferred to keep a low profile, she said.

Conversations with dozens of current academy students and some new graduates presented a picture of a smooth transition from the military’s ban on openly gay service members serving to the repeal of that ban. There have been no major incidents of overt discrimination or harassment since the policy was repealed in September.

But many signaled the change in policy would continue to hold a tender and personal meaning for those cadets who were weighing the decision to come out of the closet.

“It’s just been really open, a lot of acceptance. I haven’t heard anyone say, ‘I hate this. I can’t serve in the military with this,’” said 3rd Class Cadet Kevin Wise, a second-year management major. “It’s a sense of ‘OK, this is their lifestyle, but they’re still the person I’ve spent 21 credit hours a semester next to or I’ve gone through this with,’” he said.

Wise said he knew several classmates who chose to come out in the past few months. “Honestly, for me, it was, ‘Oh well, I kind of had a suspicion since I’ve known you for two years now, but you just move on,'” he said.

Acacia Miller, a sophomore from Shreveport, La., praised the school’s leadership for setting the right tone before the repeal. “They did a good job preparing us. There were lots of briefings about it. They stated how the military was going to go forward with it, how we should act. It was pretty much just like any other repeal, segregation, all that stuff. We just got told this is what’s going to happen and we all need to be adults about it,” she said.

Gay cadets at all the U.S. military service academies have been forming clubs and support groups, slowly making their existence known online and at campus social events. The Air Force Academy group -- called Spectrum -- was officially sanctioned earlier this month and had about 30 members from across all classes, the organizers said.

The Air Force Academy’s administration has also allowed the Blue Alliance to have a more high-profile role on campus. The group flew rainbow flags during a tailgate party before a home football game in November, Heller said, and hosted a dinner attended by the dean of faculty, Gen. Dana Born. In February, the group participated in a campus leadership symposium, she said.

“Things have gone very smoothly at the academies since repeal,” said Sue Fulton, a 1980 West Point graduate and spokeswoman for the LGBT military advocacy group OutServe.

The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was approved by President Clinton in 1993 as a compromise toward ending a long-standing ban on allowing homosexuals to serve in the military. Gay service members could enlist but had to keep quiet about their sexual orientation. Advocates said it essentially forced them to live a lie.

Congress passed a law in 2010 formally ordering repeal of the policy. After a period of preparation and training for lifting the ban, the Pentagon gave the green light for final certification in September 2011.

Advocates said they never believed the repeal would prove problematic on campus, given that younger generations of students were generally more accepting of homosexuality, and the military’s commitment to following the rules set by leaders.

(NEW YORK) -- As part of the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" injunction, military recruiters have been told to not ask military applicants if they’re gay. More importantly, if the applicant volunteers that they’re gay, it’s not a problem, the application can go forward. However, openly gay recruits are also being warned that the court’s injunction could be reversed, the same warning issued to gay servicemembers last week. FYI: Processing an applicant’s paperwork can usually take months.

It’s been a very confusing week for the Pentagon to try and figure out how a federal judge’s injunction of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" would impact their operations. It took them two days to put together guidance to legal officers and the service chiefs that the Department of Defense would comply with the judge’s injunction while it appeals the decision.

The guidance that went out last Friday basically told the services not to ask about sexual orientation and cautioned gay servicemembers not to step forward as being gay because if the ruling’s overturned, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would go back into place.

Pentagon spokesperson Cynthia Smith says top personnel chief Cliff Stanley sent another memo on Friday to the recruiting commands telling them to suspend the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" instructions for new military applicants.

The news prompted Iraq War veteran and former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi to tweet that he was headed to the Times Square Recruiting Station in Manhattan Tuesday to re-enlist in the Army while stating that he’s openly gay.

"I'm gonna try to enlist in the Marines today. Anyone else can meet me at NYC Times Sq now," Choi tweeted. He later posted, "Walking through Chelsea about to enlist; reminded of our beautiful diversity. This is what makes America worth defending."

"Today is a great day we can all celebrate," he later said after filling out the paperwork. "I'm very excited to be in service to this country."

Choi was discharged from the Army National Guard earlier this year under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" law after he’d come out as gay on an MSNBC news show in 2009.

Under the guidance sent out because of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" injunction, military recruiters would have to take his application.

Gay advocacy groups trumpeted their plans to test the new rules at recruitment stations around the country, as the Pentagon told military recruiters they have to accept applicants who may openly volunteer that they are gay.

Pentagon spokesperson Smith said, however, that recruiters have been told to inform openly gay applicants that a reversal in the court's decision on the injunction against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" may occur.